'I'm not angry at Gigi Hadid's Vogue video, just completely exhausted.'

Until this week, I never would have imagined that I had something in common with Gigi Hadid.

After all, she is a blonde supermodel who travels the world, owns multiple homes and doesn't get The Ick when she spies Bradley Cooper wildly thrashing about while attempting to dance at a Taylor Swift concert.

I, on the other hand, am a brunette writer who rents an obscenely overpriced shoebox apartment in Sydney and most definitely got The Ick when I saw Mr Cooper's dance movies (although who amongst us has not lost a shred of dignity when the opening strands of 'Shake It Off' hit their ears, so maybe we need to give him a pass).

Yet this week, when the 29-year-old model and business owner was announced as Vogue's newest cover star, complete with a lush photo spread and an interview that touched on all corners of her life, she also released an accompanying music video that was an homage to one of the greatest musicals of all time, Hairspray.

Now, it's not surprising that Miss Hadid loves Hairspray. She is, after all, a human woman with a pulse and therefore not immune to the catchy beats and phenomenal tunes that come from this beloved musical.

Still, it felt nice to know that Gigi and I share a passion for dancing around our (wildly different-sized, I am sure) living rooms to the Hairspray soundtrack, all while singing along to the lyrics at the top of our voices.

When I saw the premise behind her Vogue video, I instantly ignored every person in my vicinity and clicked in to watch it, eager to see this new take on a musical that always brings me endless joy. Despite the fact that I can't hit a single note included on the soundtrack.

The Vogue video is titled 'Gigi Hadid Can't Stop the Beat' which is a play on Hairpray's most popular song, 'You Can't Stop the Beat', and the song that Gigi lipsyncs to in the video.

The clip itself is stunning — a visual feast of '60s fashion and eye-catching sets, everything about it designed to appeal to fans of fashion and musical theatre alike. Yet as I watched the video play out, I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing.

A sea of straight-sized bodies, in a song that centres on plus-sized body inclusion.

If you're not aware of the musical's history, the original Hairspray was a John Waters film that was released in 1988. It was then turned into a Broadway musical of the same name, which premiered in 2002, and went on to win eight Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical.

In 2007 another big-screen adaptation of the film was released, with an all-star cast including John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah and Zac Efron.

Hairspray is set in the '60s and tells the story of Tracy Turnblad (played by Nikki Blonsky in the latest movie iteration), a plus-sized teenager who dreams of being cast as a dancer in her town's teen dance TV show, but her body has always held her back.

After initially being rejected because of her weight, Tracey lands a spot on the show but begins to realise that her plight is no more important than the students of colour in her town, who are banned from performing in the main show because of the colour of their skin.

On the surface, Hairspray looks like a frothy confection of colour and crazy dance sequences, but the story is very much about people who are discriminated against because of the way they look, and what happens when they come together to enact change.

Watch the hosts of The Spill podcast talk about Gigi's vid. Post continues below.

Body size and inclusivity are strong storytelling pillars within Hairspray. In the musical, Tracey's mother, Edna Turnblad, locks herself in her home for decades because she is ashamed of her body size — a fear she is able to overcome after watching her daughter be celebrated as a dancer and embraced by the community.

The song 'Big Blonde and Beautiful', performed by the character Motormouth Maybelle Stubbs in the musical, is an ode to plus-size beauty, containing lyrics such as:

"I offer big love with no apology. / How can I deny the world the most of me? / I'm big, blonde and beautiful. / There is nothin' 'bout me that's unsuitable.'

In Hairspray, Tracy Turnblad does undergo a bit of a makeover, but it's one that is under her control, and she doesn't change her body shape in anyway. Instead, she follows her dreams, makes new friends, falls madly in love and is loved in return, and works with a community to push back against discrimination.

In particular, 'You Can't Stop the Beat' has always been more than just a song; it's a battle cry for people who don't fit into the mainstream ideas of beauty, but who choose to push ahead anyway.

So to see a thin woman, in some instances dressed as Tracy Turnblad, dancing around to this song and surrounded by dancers (none of whom are plus-sized), all ignoring the context, power and history of the art they are trying to honour, felt wildly tone-deaf and hurtful to the people who have hung onto the musical's core message for so long.

Of course, I am going to go ahead and assume that no one in that room — least of all my newly discovered Hairspray-loving twin Gigi Hadid — meant to upset anyone with this video extravaganza. It was clearly done with love and admiration for the material, and featured some incredible names, including Broadway star Cole Escola and critically acclaimed actress Laverne Cox.

Yet I can't help but wonder, for all the people involved in this project, who shared the video with a message about how much they love the musical… have any of them actually watched it?

Because the project they created flies directly in the face of the message contained within the stage musical and its movie counterparts, by celebrating only one ideal beauty standard.

Listen to the author of this article talk more about this issue on The Spill podcast. Story continues below.

There are very few lead roles in film, television and musical theatre that are reserved for plus-size women, so to see that taken away, even in short video form, makes the sting a little harder to bear.

The fact that the multitudes of people who worked on this project and signed off on it before it was made public didn't factor inclusivity into the mix when co-opting a musical that holds that idea at its core, speaks to a bigger problem across the fashion and entertainment industry.

In fact, the publication's own words, found within The Vogue Business Spring/Summer 2025 size inclusivity report, explain the bigger issue that is at play here behind the scenes.

The report opens by stating, "There was very limited progress in size inclusivity this season, our exclusive research has found — a fact that will come as no surprise to those who watched the shows.

"The body positivity movement has lost steam in mainstream culture as the pendulum has swung back to the glamorisation of thinness, amid the rising use of Ozempic and the subsequent shrinking of celebrities and influencers."

The Vogue report analysed every runway show and presentation from the official New York, London, Milan and Paris Fashion Week schedules to calculate the proportion of total looks that are straight, mid and plus-size. They found that less than 1 per cent of the more than 8,700 runway models were plus size.

The report goes on to say, "Editors, casting agents and stylists agree the industry needs to address both the lack of representation and the increasing thinness of models on the runway. But what can be done?"

While lack of body diversity is not something that will be fixed with one runway, video or campaign, in this particular case, my dear friends at Vogue, I do believe the call might be coming from inside the house…

As someone who has been writing and speaking about body inclusivity for many years, when this video started to circulate, I received many messages from people voicing their anger about the concept and assuming I felt the same way.

But to be honest, I don't feel angry about it; just exhausted.

Exhausted by having the same conversations over and over again, all while watching the tiny glimmers of progress that were once on the horizon fade away into nothingness.

So I'll add this piece to the legion of others just like it that I have written in the past, and in the words of Hairspray's most iconic song, "the world keeps spinnin' round and round".

It's just getting more and more tiring to keep up.

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here for more entertainment news and recommendations.

Feature image: Getty.